Riverboat Ron Rivera took some time away from analyzing fourth-down statistics Monday night and watched his upcoming opponent, the New Orleans Saints, get whooped up on by the Seattle Seahawks.
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The Carolina Panthers coach had one distinct takeaway.
"I learned that they're beatable," he said Wednesday at his news conference. "I thought Seattle played a very good game and I thought some things were off for New Orleans. But it was good to see, give you a little bit of a jump, a little bit of a head start on our next opponent."
The Panthers and Saintswill meet Sunday night in New Orleans with the NFC South division lead on the line. The Panthers, on an eight-game winning streak, are playing as well as any team in the NFL. The Saints, on the other hand, are coming off a disheartening pummeling.
The positive for New Orleans is that the Panthers' secondary is more nondescript than the one they faced Monday. However, if the Saints can't block the Panthers' rush -- which expects to get their best pass rusher in Charles Johnson back after missing two weeks -- Drew Brees might not have a chance to exploit the advantage.
The Saints are a much better offensive team in their home dome, but some of that advantage could be shaved due to a plane delay that kept the team in Seattle an extra day.
Rivera said he doesn't believe that hiccup will slow down the Saints. His defense has to do that job.
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